GOAL

Marco Asensio has signed a new contract with Real Madrid which will keep him at the club until 2023.

The 21-year-old signed for the La Liga giants in 2014 for €3.9 million from Mallorca, and has agreed a new six-year-deal at Santiago Bernabeu.

After signing for Madrid, he returned to Mallorca on a loan deal, and also spent a season at Espanyol as he gained first-team experience.

He broke into the Blancos first team in 2016-17, starting in the UEFA Super Cup win over Sevilla and then making his La Liga debut shortly after.

Asensio played 23 La Liga games last season, and impressed in the Champions League, scoring three times in eight appearances, including a goal in the final against Juventus as Zinedine Zidane's side lifted the trophy.

He also made his international debut for Spain in 2016, and has played four times for his country. Asensio also represented Spain at the 2017 European Under-21 Championship, where he scored a hat-trick against Macedonia.

A strong start to the 2017-18 season has earned rave reviews from Zidane, who has compared the forward to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

"Zidane told me that since Messi, he had never seen a left foot like mine," he told COPE. "I was a little impressed, because Messi is a piece of a footballer."

Asensio's new deal comes just a day after Real Madrid signed defender Raphael Varane to a five-year contract extension, and follows Marcelo, Isco, Dani Carvajal, Karim Benzema and Marcos Llorente who have also recently committed their futures to the club.